1. Field
Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a multi-type air conditioner capable of simultaneously performing a cooling operation and a heating operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a multi-type air conditioner may include an outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit. A refrigerant transferred from the outdoor unit is distributed to the plurality of indoor units such that a cooling operation and a heating operation are independently performed at each indoor space.
The outdoor unit may include a compressor to compress a refrigerant, an outdoor heat exchanger to exchange heat with outdoor air, an outdoor expansion valve to expand the refrigerant under decompression before the refrigerant is introduced into the outdoor heat exchanger during a heating operation, and a four-way valve to guide the refrigerant discharged to one of the plurality of indoor units and the outdoor heat exchanger. Each one of the plurality of indoor units may include an indoor heat exchanger to exchange heat with indoor air, and an indoor expansion valve to expand the refrigerant under decompression before the refrigerant is introduced into the indoor heat exchanger during a cooling operation. Such a configuration of the multi-type air conditioner enables the cooling operation and the heating operation to be selectively converted.
In a multi-type air conditioner which is provided with a conversion unit, the conversion unit may be provided between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit to deliver the refrigerant from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit or from the indoor unit to the outdoor unit such that an indoor unit performs a cooling operation while another indoor unit performs a heating operation.
In addition, the multi-type air conditioner may include a plurality of subcooling units which are each configured to subcool the refrigerant introduced to the indoor heat exchanger during a cooling operation, thereby reducing noise generated in the course of passing refrigerant through the indoor expansion valve.